3 Pillars of Smart IT

June 03, 2013

IT is a business tool. And, whether you are an independent solution provider or managing an enterprise IT department, the way you are being measured has changed. Projects still have to be on time and on budget, you still need to meet your SLAs, and you still need to ensure security is in place, but the measure of your success is in the business outcomes – the results – you help generate.

It’s not about implementing a new CRM – it is about shortening the sales cycle.

It’s not about deploying social monitoring tools – it is about understanding your customers better.

It’s not about upgrading your infrastructure – it is about improving employee efficiency.

It’s not about virtualization – it is about reducing costs and increasing scalability.

The technology is key, but what is more important are the results it enables and the outcomes it helps produce. That’s what IT is being measured on. That is what you are accountable for. This is what we call Smart IT.

Smart IT is using technology to create positive business results/outcomes for your clients.

Delivering Smart IT requires you to have operational efficiency; accountability for internal/external metrics; and real intelligence about the factors that affect your operations and the solutions you deploy. Those three things, efficiency, accountability and intelligence are crucial to ensuring you remain successful and deliver solid results for your clients.

Efficiency

Focusing on delivering the results your clients need requires you to cut through the noise and distractions in your business by:

eliminating ineffective and redundant processes

automating repetitive workflows

ensuring that the right people are working on the right projects at the right time

Accountability

Smart IT means delivering what you promise, and being accountable for the time and resources you expend and the outcomes you help your clients achieve. To achieve accountability, you need to track and report on:

External, performance-related KPIs, including profitability, ROI and measurable business outcomes

Intelligence

Smart IT requires being strategic about your operations, the clients you engage and the solutions you recommend, implement and support.

Without real-time, actionable intelligence about the operational and performance metrics that affect your business you can’t make fact-based decisions to improve your processes and performance, and deliver solid returns for your clients.

Join the Smart IT conversation taking place in real-time on Twitter by sending a Tweet to @Autotask, with the hashtag #CommLive. We would love to hear your thoughts on Smart IT!